Diocese will have details of closings next weekend

Times Union ^ | January 10, 2009 | MARC PARRY

[NYer]

COHOES — Al Rigney knows the pain of closing a church. A decade ago, Rigney performed the grim ritual of boarding up the windows of St. Agnes, the big-steepled Cohoes landmark where he was confirmed and married.

He gave up after a few.

"I can't do any more," Rigney told a fellow window-boarder. "It hurts too much."

The bundled-up 80-year-old spoke before the 12:10 p.m. Mass on Friday in a light wood pew at St. Bernard's, another historic treasure of this river city. It, too, may close in a new round of Albany Catholic Diocese parish consolidations that will be announced next weekend.

Many of the thousands of Catholics who have prepared for that day with two-and-a-half years of emotional planning already have a good idea which churches will close. But they won't know for sure until 4 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 17, when the final plan will begin to be revealed from pulpits and on the diocesan Web site.

And Bishop Howard Hubbard has held out a shred of hope for many by publicly declaring on Wednesday that some places people expect to close will not.

The unprecedented restructuring in Albany is one domino in a cascade of consolidations that have shuttered Catholic churches across the Northeast.

Hubbard told the Times Union he plans to close or merge roughly 20 percent of the diocese's 190 worship sites, which amounts to 38 buildings. That is comparable to the dioceses of Rochester (where 16 percent of parishes closed or merged), Buffalo (28 percent), Syracuse (20 percent) and Boston (18 percent), according to figures provided last year by the Albany Diocese.

Hubbard said what he is about to do is among the hardest challenges he has faced in more than three decades presiding over the 400,000 upstate Catholics who live across the sprawling 14-county diocese.

"I would have to put it on a par with dealing with the issue of clergy sexual abuse," the bishop said during a meeting with Times Union reporters and editors Wednesday. He added, "In terms of executive decision-making on my part, it is probably the most difficult thing I've had to do."

The bishop characterized his plan as a necessary response to a migration of Catholics from cities to suburbs and a steep decline in the number of priests available to serve them. Within seven years, Hubbard projects the diocese will have fewer than 100 active diocesan priests.

But others fault the church's response to those trends.

They criticize a drawn-out planning process that already has driven some Catholics to shop for new churches on the assumption their current ones will close.

They feel Hubbard already knew what he wanted to do. They say the process, which involved 38 local groups of lay Catholics and priests suggesting plans to the bishop, was a "dog and pony show," as one local Catholic school teacher derided it.

They question the tremendous investment the diocese has made in renovating its mother church, the Cathedral of Immaculate Conception, as it closes local parishes.

And they worry about the Catholic church's departure from major swaths of cities like Troy, where as many as six churches may close. What, they ask, will happen to elderly parishioners who walk to Masses in those churches?

"There's going to be a lot of hurt people," Rigney said. "… These elderly people won't have no place to go."

In response, Hubbard repeated what has been said before: There is no preconceived plan. There will be rides organized for parishioners who need them to get to church. The diocese is "very concerned about the abandonment of the cities."

The bishop has asked the director of Catholic Charities and the director of pastoral care to work with the cities of Albany, Troy, Schenectady, Cohoes and Amsterdam "to make sure that the needs of the elderly and the poor will continue to be met."

As for the Cathedral, the bishop said that from the standpoint of theology and ecclesiology, "there's only one church in the diocese — the cathedral. You have to have a cathedral church. Every parish is really just an extension of the bishop's ministry at the cathedral."

Second, from an aesthetic and historic perspective, the bishop saw no way he could abandon an "architectural and historical masterpiece" that is the second-largest building in the diocese.

"It's right at the heart of the Empire State Plaza," he said. "It's at the intersection of all the major transportation arteries in the diocese."

He added, "Even if I had made the decision to close the cathedral, the uproar that I would receive from the historic preservationists and from government officials and so forth would have been beyond what we could have sustained. We probably would have had all kinds of lawsuits."

[NYer]

As for the Cathedral, the bishop said that from the standpoint of theology and ecclesiology, "there's only one church in the diocese — the cathedral. You have to have a cathedral church. Every parish is really just an extension of the bishop's ministry at the cathedral."

Second, from an aesthetic and historic perspective, the bishop saw no way he could abandon an "architectural and historical masterpiece" that is the second-largest building in the diocese.

He added, "Even if I had made the decision to close the cathedral, the uproar that I would receive from the historic preservationists and from government officials and so forth would have been beyond what we could have sustained. We probably would have had all kinds of lawsuits."

Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception

The Cathedral has been the recipient of several state grants to restore its historical facade. The work is being carried out by union workers. As they note on their web site:

the first of a multi-phase, 15-year renovation that should produce thousands of additional hours of work over the first three years for Local 2 members, including: a master stone mason, three stone carvers, three journeyworkers, and an IMI-trained stone carver apprentice. A stone carving shed has been built on the Cathedral grounds, and Local 2 hopes to capitalize on the steady stream of tourists who visit the popular New York State Museum, next door, to educate the public about BAC and its skilled craftworkers.

Plans call for all exterior stone to be reset, and replaced with brownstone brought in from Europe.

In order to gear-up for the project, Local 2 utilized IMI’s stone training and cross-training programs for PCC members at the National Training Center in Ft. Ritchie, Maryland.

Inside the cathedral, however, the bishop has also made some major changes. It has been 'wreckovated' to remain faithful to his vision of a post VCII cathedral.

[NYer]

Hubbard said what he is about to do is among the hardest challenges he has faced in more than three decades presiding over the 400,000 upstate Catholics who live across the sprawling 14-county diocese.

Countdown to Hubbard's retirement

[PAR35]

But they won't know for sure until 4 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 17, when the final plan will begin to be revealed from pulpits and on the diocesan Web site. And Bishop Howard Hubbard has held out a shred of hope for many by publicly declaring on Wednesday that some places people expect to close will not.

I don't know what that means up there, but if a Louisiana politician said that, it would mean that you needed to show up before noon Saturday with your checkbook if you want to make sure your building isn't on the list.

[Salvation]

Only two more years until Mahony retires (really a little bit over that.) I’m counting, and I don’t even live in Los Angeles or thereabouts!

[stripes1776]

They criticize a drawn-out planning process that already has driven some Catholics to shop for new churches on the assumption their current ones will close.

Obviously the diocese has not done enough to promote illegal immigration. How else is the Church to fill up its empty pews?

[NoExpectations]

This is the capital of New York...of course there are no illegals living here :0)

[NoExpectations]

I thought I was the only one keeping this countdown!

[NYer]

I thought I was the only one keeping this countdown!

My friend, you are in good company! Let's pray that his successor has the fortitude and strength to rebuild this diocese. One thing is certain, he will have his hands full when he eventually attempts to place priests in lay-run parishes. But that's another story.